1.  Peer Reviewed Title: 'And they kill me, only because I am a girl'...a review of sex-selective abortions in South Asia. Author: Abrejo FG; Shaikh BT; Rizvi N Source: European Journal of Contraception and Reproductive Health Care. 2009 Feb;14(1):10-6. Abstract: The low social status of women and the preference for sons determine a high rate of sex-selective abortion or, more specifically, female feticide, in South Asian countries. Although each of them, irrespective of its abortion policy, strictly condemns sex-selective abortion, data suggest high rates of such procedures in India, Nepal, China and Bangladesh. This paper reviews the current situation of sex-selective abortion, the laws related to it and the factors contributing to its occurrence within these countries. Based on this review, it is concluded that sex selective abortion is a public health issue as it contributes to high maternal mortality. Abortion policies of South Asian countries vary greatly and this influences the frequency of reporting of cases. Several socio-economic factors are responsible for sex-selective abortion including gender discriminating cultural practices, irrational national population policies and unethical use of technology. Wide social change promoting women's status in society should be instituted whereby women are offered more opportunities for better health, education and economic participation through gender sensitive policies and programmes. A self-regulation of the practices in the medical profession and among communities must be achieved through behavioural change campaigns. Language: English Keywords: ASIA | RESEARCH REPORT | CHILD, FEMALE | SEX PRESELECTION | SOCIAL DISCRIMINATION | BEHAVIOR CHANGE | Developing Countries | Child | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Reproductive Technologies | Reproduction | Social Problems | Sociocultural Factors | Behavior Document Number: 341236 |
| 2. Peer Reviewed Title: Second-trimester abortions and sex-selection of children in Hanoi, Vietnam. Author: Belanger D; Oanh KT Source: Population Studies. 2009 Jul;63(2):163-71. Abstract: Because sex-selective abortions are generally conducted during the second term of the pregnancy, timing of abortion can be used as an indirect way of studying sex-selection by abortion. We examined the likelihood of having a first-trimester vs. second-trimester abortion among a group of 885 married women who had an abortion in an obstetric hospital in Hanoi in 2003. In the absence of sex-selection by abortion, the number and sex of living children should not affect the timing of abortion. Results indicate that women with more children, particularly those with more daughters or without a son, were more likely to undergo a second-term abortion than a first-term abortion. We estimate that, in 2003, 2 per cent of all abortions to women with at least one living child were intended to avoid the birth of a female. Language: English Keywords: VIETNAM | URBAN AREAS | RESEARCH REPORT | ABORTION | CURRENTLY MARRIED | SONS | PREGNANCY, FIRST TRIMESTER | PREGNANCY, SECOND TRIMESTER | SEX PRESELECTION | SEX PREFERENCE | SEX RATIO | POPULATION POLICY | Asia, Southeastern | Asia | Developing Countries | Geographic Factors | Population | Fertility Control, Postconception | Family Planning | Marital Status | Nuptiality | Demographic Factors | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Pregnancy | Reproduction | Reproductive Technologies | Value Orientation | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Sex Distribution | Sex Factors | Population Characteristics | Social Policy | Policy | Political Factors Document Number: 342945 Notification |
| 3. Title: The unknown genocide: how one country's culture is destroying the girl child. Author: Sumner MM Source: International Journal of Nursing Practice. 2009 Apr;15(2):65-8. Abstract: Female feticide and infanticide is occurring at an alarming rate in India as a result of preference for sons. The cultural reasons for sex-selective abortions and the government's current strategies against this problem are identified. However, the problem's scope might be too great for the Indian government. Humanitarian efforts are needed to save the girl child. Nurses are a key group of people that need to be made aware of this issue as they are advocates for vulnerable populations. Language: English Keywords: INDIA | CRITIQUE | SONS | INFANTICIDE | ABORTION | ULTRASONICS | SEX PRESELECTION | LEGISLATION | SEX PREFERENCE | SOCIAL DISCRIMINATION | WOMEN'S STATUS | Asia, Southern | Asia | Developing Countries | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Crime | Social Problems | Fertility Control, Postconception | Family Planning | Medical Procedures | Medicine | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Health | Reproductive Technologies | Reproduction | Political Factors | Value Orientation | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Socioeconomic Factors | Economic Factors Document Number: 342479 Notification |
| 4. Peer Reviewed Title: Second trimester abortions in India. Author: Dalvie SS Source: Reproductive Health Matters. 2008 May;16(31 Suppl):37-45. Abstract: This article gives an overview of what is known about second trimester abortions in India, including the reasons why women seek abortions in the second trimester, the influence of abortion law and policy, surgical and medical methods used, both safe and unsafe, availability of services, requirements for second trimester service delivery, and barriers women experience in accessing second trimester services. Based on personal experiences and personal communications from other doctors since 1993, when I began working as an abortion provider, the practical realities of second trimester abortion and case histories of women seeking second trimester abortion are also described. Recommendations include expanding the cadre of service providers to non-allopathic clinicians and trained nurses, introducing second trimester medical abortion into the public health system, replacing ethacridine lactate with mifepristone-misoprostol, values clarification among providers to challenge stigma and poor treatment of women seeking second trimester abortion, and raising awareness that abortion is legal in the second trimester and is mostly not requested for reasons of sex selection. Language: English Keywords: INDIA | RESEARCH REPORT | SEX DETERMINATION | SEX PRESELECTION | ABORTION LAW | POLICY | SAFETY | ABORTION | PREGNANCY, SECOND TRIMESTER | Developing Countries | Asia, Southern | Asia | Genetic Techniques | Laboratory Examinations and Diagnoses | Examinations and Diagnoses | Medical Procedures | Medicine | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Health | Reproductive Technologies | Reproduction | Fertility Control, Postconception | Family Planning | Political Factors | Sociocultural Factors | Public Health | Pregnancy Document Number: 330099 Notification |
| 5. Peer Reviewed Title: Maintaining access to safe abortion and reducing sex ratio imbalances in Asia. Author: Ganatra B Source: Reproductive Health Matters. 2008 May;16(31 Suppl):90-8. Abstract: High sex ratios at birth (108 boys to 100 girls or higher) are seen in China, Taiwan, South Korea and parts of India and Viet Nam. The imbalance is the result of son preference, accentuated by declining fertility. Prenatal sex detection with ultrasound followed by second trimester abortion is one of the ways sex selection manifests itself, but it is not the causative factor. Advocates and governments seeking to reverse this imbalance have largely prohibited sex detection tests and/or sex selective abortion, assuming these measures would reverse the trend. Such policies have been difficult to enforce and have met with only limited success. At the same time, such policies are starting to have adverse effects on the already limited access to safe and legal second trimester abortion for reasons other than sex selection. Moreover, the sex selection issue is being used as a platform for anti-abortion rhetoric by certain groups. Maintaining access to safe abortion and achieving a decline in high sex ratios are both important goals. Both are possible if the focus shifts to addressing the conditions that drive son preference. Language: English Keywords: ASIA | RESEARCH REPORT | SONS | SEX PREFERENCE | PREGNANCY, SECOND TRIMESTER | SEX DETERMINATION | SEX PRESELECTION | Developing Countries | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Value Orientation | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Pregnancy | Reproduction | Genetic Techniques | Laboratory Examinations and Diagnoses | Examinations and Diagnoses | Medical Procedures | Medicine | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Health | Reproductive Technologies Document Number: 330098 |
| 6. Title: Sex selection by preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) for nonmedical reasons in contemporary Israeli regulations. Author: Grazi RV; Wolowelsky JB; Krieger DJ Source: Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics. 2008 Summer;17(3):293-9. Abstract: We report here on recent developments in Israel on the issue of sex selection for nonmedical reasons by preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). Sex selection for medical reasons (such as in cases of sex-linked genetic diseases) is generally viewed as uncontroversial and legal in European and American law. Its use for nonmedical reasons (like "balancing" the gender ratio in a family) is generally illegal in European countries. In the United States, it is not illegal, although in the opinion of the Ethics Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), it is problematic. This position is undergoing reconsideration, albeit in a limited way. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: ISRAEL | CRITIQUE | SEX PRESELECTION | SEX PREFERENCE | RELIGIOUS ASPECTS | JUDAISM | FAMILY PLANNING POLICY | REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES | ETHICS | LEGISLATION | Developed Countries | Middle East | Reproduction | Value Orientation | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Religion | Sociocultural Factors | Family Planning | Population Policy | Social Policy | Policy | Political Factors Document Number: 328368 |
| 7. Title: Sex selection, gender-based violence and human rights abuse [letter] Author: Liljestrand J; Shaw D Source: Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica. 2008;87(4):482-483. Abstract: In the People's Republic of China, over 10% of young women are missing. One major contributory factor to this loss of millions of human lives is sex selective abortion based on early ultrasound. This practice, legal or illegal, is also common in other countries such as parts of India. In this light, it is surprising that Hsiao et al. in Acta number 1, 2008, do not even mention this dilemma in their study of early fetal sex determination by ultrasound. They do refer to the fact that many Taiwanese/Chinese wish to have early information on fetal sex, however, they do not mention the ethical dilemma of disclosing such information, particularly in parts of the world where such information may lead to - and does lead to - the earliest form of gender-based violence and major human rights abuse, directed against the female sex. The Editor's comment does raise this dilemma, however this is insufficient, as many readers will read the original paper only. FIGO's ethical guidelines emphasize that professional societies and their members are accountable for the employment of techniques for sex selection only for medical indications; and that in regional areas with marked sex ratio imbalance, professional societies should work with governments to ensure that sex selection is strictly regulated. It is surprising to us that Acta would permit such a paper to go to print without any discussion in the paper of the ethical and human rights implications of the scientific findings. (full text) Language: English Keywords: CHINA | INDIA | TAIWAN | CRITIQUE | SEX PRESELECTION | ETHICS | HUMAN RIGHTS | SEX DETERMINATION | ULTRASONICS | SEX RATIO | Asia, Eastern | Asia | Developing Countries | Asia, Southern | Developed Countries | Reproductive Technologies | Reproduction | Sociocultural Factors | Political Factors | Genetic Techniques | Laboratory Examinations and Diagnoses | Examinations and Diagnoses | Medical Procedures | Medicine | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Health | Sex Distribution | Sex Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population Document Number: 325877 |
| 8. Peer Reviewed Title: Analysis of socio-political and health practices influencing sex ratio at birth in Viet Nam. Author: Pham BN; Hall W; Hill PS; Rao C Source: Reproductive Health Matters. 2008 Nov;16(32):176-84. Abstract: Viet Nam has experienced rapid social change over the last decade, with a remarkable decline in fertility to just below replacement level. The combination of fertility decline, son preference, antenatal sex determination using ultrasound and sex selective abortion are key factors driving increased sex ratios at birth in favour of boys in some Asian countries. Whether or not this is taking place in Viet Nam as well is the subject of heightened debate. In this paper, we analyse the nature and determinants of sex ratio at birth in Viet Nam, including a small family size norm, recent reinforcement by the Government of the "one-to-two child" family policy, traditional son preference, easy access to antenatal ultrasound screening and legal abortion, and an increase in the proportion of one-child families. In order to prevent an increased sex ratio at birth in Viet Nam, we argue for the relaxation of the one-to-two child family policy and a return to the policy of "small family size" as determined by families, in tandem with a comprehensive approach to promoting the value of women and girls in society, countering traditional gender roles, and raising public awareness of the negative social consequences of a high sex ratio at birth. Language: English Keywords: VIETNAM | RECOMMENDATIONS | SONS | SEX RATIO | SEX PREFERENCE | ANTINATALIST POLICY | FAMILY SIZE | SEX DETERMINATION | ULTRASONICS | SEX PRESELECTION | ABORTION | LEGISLATION | Asia, Southeastern | Asia | Developing Countries | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Sex Distribution | Sex Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Value Orientation | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Population Policy | Social Policy | Policy | Political Factors | Genetic Techniques | Laboratory Examinations and Diagnoses | Examinations and Diagnoses | Medical Procedures | Medicine | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Health | Reproductive Technologies | Reproduction | Fertility Control, Postconception | Family Planning Document Number: 342199 Notification |
| 9. Title: Sexism, sex selection and 'family balancing'. Author: Wilkinson S Source: Medical Law Review. 2008 Autumn;16(3):369-89. Abstract: Traditionally, reproductive autonomy meant simply the freedom (assuming it was a real freedom) to decide whether to try and reproduce, with whom, when and where. However, now the issues include the questions of whether reproductive autonomy should extend to include, for example, social sex selection, buying and selling eggs, sperm and embryos, the selection of the characteristics of possible future children or to having one child to save another (the so-called saviour sibling). While we would strive to encourage autonomous decision making, we recogise that there may be problems with unfettered and unregulated choices. Language: English Keywords: UNITED KINGDOM | SUMMARY REPORT | SEX PREFERENCE | REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS | ETHICS | REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES | SEX PRESELECTION | LEGISLATION | SOCIAL DISCRIMINATION | Developed Countries | Europe, Western | Europe | Value Orientation | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Human Rights | Political Factors | Sociocultural Factors | Reproduction | Social Problems Document Number: 329287 |
10.  Title: Discrimination from conception to childhood: a study of girl children in rural Haryana, India. Author: Agrawal S; Unisa S Source: In: Watering the neighbour's garden: The growing demographic female deficit in Asia, edited by Isabelle Attane and Christophe Z. Guilmoto. Paris, France, Committee for International Cooperation in National Research in Demography [CICRED], 2007. :247-266. "Chapters in this volume originate from papers presented at an international seminar organized by the authors in Singapore on 5-7 December 2005". Abstract: The authors investigated both qualitative and less explored factors that can influence child sex ratio. In this study, the made use of the ecological model of gender discrimination developed by Heise (1998). As a first dimension in gender discrimination study, consideration of the individual perpetrator, i.e., the woman who has witnessed or experienced discrimination, marital violence or child abuse in her childhood. The diversity of synergistic effects that impinge on childhood is often ignored by social scientists. Here, the authors argue that their attention to a mother must start not once she has become a mother, neither when she is just about to become a mother, but when she was an infant and a child, as what happened to her during her own childhood may eventually determine the adequacy of her physical and mental state as a mother. Another dimension of gender discrimination examined in this study relates to marital conflicts, wealth control and decision-making in the family. Most of the time, it is found that women's fertility is culturally produced and controlled by marital arrangement. Hence, the importance of married life in demographic analysis cannot be ignored as women spend a major part of their life in marital union and their behaviour is greatly influenced by its characteristics. Studies on marital instability in some developing countries show that the presence of a son in the family consistently decreases the likelihood of marital instability. In this study, the authors posit that the various spheres of women's autonomy may affect their reproductive behaviour and sex preferences. Education, work participation, and exposure to mass media are some of the means by which women gains status and autonomy. It has often been argued that women's status is an indicator of the level of development of a given society. Women's autonomy is likely to have a significant impact on demographic and health seeking behaviour of couples by altering women's relative control over fertility and contraception as well as influencing their attitudes and abilities. In the above perspective, the present study tries to investigate sex-selective discrimination in terms of active and passive elimination of a girl child through life-cycle approach. The specific purpose of the study is to examine female child neglect leading to death (passive elimination) and selective abortion (active elimination) according to childhood experiences, autonomy status and marital instability of the mothers. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: INDIA | RESEARCH REPORT | FOLLOW-UP STUDIES | CENSUS METHODS | KAP SURVEYS | CHILD, FEMALE | RURAL POPULATION | WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT | SEX PREFERENCE | SEX PRESELECTION | SEX DISCRIMINATION | SEX RATIO | DIFFERENTIAL MORTALITY | ABORTION | LIFE CYCLE | Developing Countries | Asia, Southern | Asia | Studies | Research Methodology | Census | Population Statistics | Surveys | Sampling Studies | Child | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Economic Development | Economic Factors | Value Orientation | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Reproductive Technologies | Reproduction | Social Discrimination | Social Problems | Sociocultural Factors | Sex Distribution | Sex Factors | Mortality | Population Dynamics | Fertility Control, Postconception | Family Planning | Family Research | Family and Household Document Number: 308903 Notification |
| 11. Title: Sex selection through traditional drugs in rural north India. Author: Bandyopadhyay S; Singh AJ Source: Indian Journal of Community Medicine. 2007 Jan-Mar;32(1):[7] p. Abstract: Repidly declining sex ratio has highlighted a strong son preference among many societies various methods are employed by people to get a son. The objective was to determine the use pattern of sex selection drugs (SSDs) in rural North India. An integrated qualitative and quantitative study was conducted in rural North India. A rapid population and hospital based survey of women in their early reproductive life was done in the study area to enlist the respondents. Few SSD samples were collected and analyzed. SSDs were freely available from grocers, chemist shops and specific people in villages. These contained Shivalingi (Bryonia Laciniosa) and Majuphal (Gtuercus infectoria). SSD use rate was 46% and 30% in community based and hospital based studies respectively. Use rate was significantly higher in women who did not have any son. Of the SSD samples and two individual ingredients analyzed by thin layer chromatography, 3 contained testosterone and one progesterone; one ingredient contained testosterone and the other natural steroids. Use of SSDs seems to be very common in North India. Implication of presence of steroids in SSDs needs further evaluation. (author's) Language: English Keywords: INDIA | RESEARCH REPORT | DATA ANALYSIS | RURAL POPULATION | SONS | SEX PREFERENCE | SEX RATIO | DRUGS | SEX PRESELECTION | INFANTICIDE | ANABOLIC STEROIDS | Developing Countries | Asia, Southern | Asia | Research Methodology | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Value Orientation | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Sex Distribution | Sex Factors | Treatment | Medical Procedures | Medicine | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Health | Reproductive Technologies | Reproduction | Crime | Social Problems | Androgens | Hormones | Endocrine System | Physiology | Biology Document Number: 315290 |
| 12. Peer Reviewed Title: Fetal sex-determination in Delhi: A population-based investigation. Author: Chaturvedi S; Chhabra P; Bharadwaj S; Smanla S; Kannan AT Source: Tropical Doctor. 2007 Apr;37(2):98-100. Abstract: A population-based cross-sectional inquiry was carried out in Delhi to assess the practice of fetal sex determination, sex-selective abortions and awareness about the related law. A total of 1514 respondents, selected through multistage cluster sampling from all across Delhi, were interviewed using a pretested, semistructured questionnaire. Legal awareness (73.6%) was significantly better among the male and urban respondents. Only 39 (2.6%) of the respondents had ever gone for fetal sex determination. In 17 (43.6%) of them, it was done in spite of being aware of its unlawfulness, and in 33 (84.6%), the couple had one or more living male children. Frequency of fetal sex determination was comparable for slum and urban areas. Fifty-six additional cases of fetal sex determination, occurring in the neighbourhood of the respondents, were also reported. A total of 28 cases of female feticide were reported. Awareness about the illegality of fetal sex determination has improved, compared with the 1997--1998 data collected from East Delhi (55.3--73.6%). However, this comparison also shows a marginal increase in the practice of fetal sex determination (2.1--2.6%). In all cases of feticide, a qualified doctor was involved. A number of couples abandoned the abortion plan midway, even after detecting that the fetus was female, and there were occasional cases where the doctor refused to abort the female fetus. (author's) Language: English Keywords: INDIA | RESEARCH REPORT | CROSS SECTIONAL ANALYSIS | INTERVIEWS | COUPLES | SEX PRESELECTION | AWARENESS | SEX DETERMINATION | LEGISLATION | Developing Countries | Asia, Southern | Asia | Research Methodology | Data Collection | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Reproductive Technologies | Reproduction | Knowledge | Genetic Techniques | Laboratory Examinations and Diagnoses | Examinations and Diagnoses | Medical Procedures | Medicine | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Health | Political Factors Document Number: 316527 |
| 13. Title: Why is son preference declining in South Korea? The role of development and public policy, and the implications for China and India. Author: Chung W; Das Gupta M Source: Washington, D.C., World Bank, Development Research Group, Human Development and Public Services Team, 2007 Oct. 30 p. (Policy Research Working Paper No. 4373) Abstract: For years, South Korea presented the puzzling phenomenon of steeply rising sex ratios at birth despite rapid development, including in women's education and formal employment. This paper shows that son preference decreased in response to development, but its manifestation continued until the mid-1990s due to improved sex-selection technology. The paper analyzes unusually rich survey data, and finds that the impact of development worked largely through triggering normative changes across the whole society - rather than just through changes in individuals as their socioeconomic circumstances changed. The findings show that nearly three-quarters of the decline in son preference between 1991 and 2003 is attributable to normative change, and the rest to increases in the proportions of urban and educated people. South Korea is now the first Asian country to reverse the trend in rising sex ratios at birth. The paper discusses the cultural underpinnings of son preference in pre-industrial Korea, and how these were unraveled by industrialization and urbanization, while being buttressed by public policies upholding the patriarchal family system. Finally, the authors hypothesize that child sex ratios in China and India will decline well before they reach South Korean levels of development, since they have vigorous programs to accelerate normative change to reduce son preference. (author's) Language: English Keywords: CHINA | INDIA | REPUBLIC OF KOREA | RESEARCH REPORT | SONS | SEX RATIO | SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT | WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT | EDUCATION | SEX PRESELECTION | REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES | INDUSTRIALIZATION | PATRIARCHY | DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION | SOCIAL CHANGE | PREVENTION AND CONTROL | Asia, Eastern | Asia | Developing Countries | Asia, Southern | Developed Countries | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Sex Distribution | Sex Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Economic Factors | Women's Status | Socioeconomic Factors | Reproduction | Economic Development | Population Dynamics | Diseases Document Number: 322886 |
| 14. Peer Reviewed Title: The choice of gender: Is elective gender selection, indeed, sexist? Author: Gleicher N; Barad DH Source: Human Reproduction. 2007;22(11):3038-3041. Abstract: Like a number of international organizations before them, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recently issued an ethics opinion, which condemned all indications of elective gender selection as devaluatory to women and sexist and, therefore, given the choice, assumed automatic preference for male gender selection in all populations. This study intended to investigate this notion for accuracy. We investigated the desired gender in 92 couples who had undergone between January 2004 and December 2006 first in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles in attempts at gender selection for family balancing purposes. Their choices were then also investigated stratified for the ethnicity of the couple. Among 92 cycles, 36 cycles were selected for female and 56 for male (P 5 0.037). An analysis based on the couples' ethnicities revealed, however, considerable differences in gender selection patterns. Especially Chinese (21 out of 22), Arab/Muslim (5 out of 6) and Asian-Indian (5 out of 5) couples primarily selected for males. Other ethnicities, however, actually preferentially selected for female gender (34 female, 25 male selections in 59 cycles). Gender choices thus varied in a statistically significant way between ethnicities (P < 0.001). In an ethnically mixed patient population, elective gender selection for family balancing purposes in most ethnic groups does not represent a discriminatory procedure against female equality. However, cultural biases against females are, indeed, still maintained in some minority populations. Ethics opinions should be considerate of minority opinions, but should be based on prevalent sentiments in a majority of the population. (author's) Language: English Keywords: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | RESEARCH REPORT | COUPLES | ETHNIC GROUPS | IN VITRO | FERTILIZATION | SEX PRESELECTION | REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES | PREIMPLANTATION PHASE | GENETICS | SEX FACTORS | EXAMINATIONS AND DIAGNOSES | Developed Countries | North America | Americas | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Cultural Background | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Clinical Research | Research Methodology | Reproduction | Implantation | Pregnancy, First Trimester | Pregnancy | Biology | Medical Procedures | Medicine | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Health Document Number: 321403 |
| 15. Title: Factors influencing the use of prenatal diagnostic techniques and sex ratio at birth in India. Author: Mari Bhat PN; Zavier AJ Source: In: Watering the neighbour's garden: The growing demographic female deficit in Asia, edited by Isabelle Attane and Christophe Z. Guilmoto. Paris, France, Committee for International Cooperation in National Research in Demography [CICRED], 2007. :131-160. "Chapters in this volume originate from papers presented at an international seminar organized by the authors in Singapore on 5-7 December 2005". Abstract: The Indian subcontinent is one of the few regions in the world where there are more males than females in the population. Before the landmark study of Pravin Visaria on the sex ratio of India's population, several hypotheses were in circulation to account for this unusual occurrence. The latest census in 2001 has recorded a significant increase in the sex ratio of children age 0-6 while registering a decline in the overall male-female ratio from the previous census in 1991. Many attribute the increase in the child sex ratio to a possible rise in the sex ratio at birth (SRB) owing to the increasing incidence of female foeticide in regions where son preference remains strong. But it has also been pointed out that there could be other factors at work such as changing pattern of age misstatements by sex, and increase in the SRB because of improvements in health status and midwifery practices and from the decline in the proportion of higher-order births. The data from India's National Family Health Surveys provide an opportunity to analyze the effect of a larger set of factors from a fairly sizeable sample of births using multivariate techniques. Also, as the second round of the survey (NFHS-2) had collected data on the use of ultrasound and amniocentesis during pregnancies of live births born during the threeyear period preceding the survey, they additionally made it possible to analyze how socioeconomic and demographic factors affect the SRB through the 'misuse' such techniques. Although some attempts have already been made to analyze this data set for this purpose, its potential is yet to be fully exploited. An attempt in this direction is made in this chapter. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: INDIA | RESEARCH REPORT | DEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS | HEALTH SURVEYS | INFANT | CHILD, FEMALE | SEX RATIO | SEX DETERMINATION | SEX PREFERENCE | SEX PRESELECTION | HUMAN GEOGRAPHY | CENSUS | RELIGION | CULTURE | SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS | Developing Countries | Asia, Southern | Asia | Research Methodology | Health | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Child | Sex Distribution | Sex Factors | Genetic Techniques | Laboratory Examinations and Diagnoses | Examinations and Diagnoses | Medical Procedures | Medicine | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Value Orientation | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Reproductive Technologies | Reproduction | Geography | Social Sciences | Science | Sociocultural Factors | Population Statistics | Economic Factors Document Number: 308898 |
| 16. Title: Gender preference and awareness regarding sex determination among married women in slums of Chandigarh. Author: Puri S; Bhatia V; Swami HM Source: Indian Journal of Community Medicine. 2007 Jan-Mar;32(1):[6] p. Abstract: Female foeticide resulting in decline of child sex ratio has led to enforcement of Preconception and Prenatal diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) act since February 2003. Sex ratio, an important social indicator measuring extent of prevailing equity between males and females in society, is defined as no. of females /1000 males. Changes in sex ratio reflect underlying socioeconomic, cultural patterns of a society. As per 2001 census sex ratio in India is 933/1000 males, which continues to be significantly adverse towards women and is the lowest amongst 10 most populous countries in world. Russia tops the list in sex ratio (1140) followed by USA (1029). Most alarming is decrease in CSR (Child sex ratio 0-6). In Punjab the number was least (793) in 2001, followed by Haryana (820) and Chandigarh (845). Advances in technology and diagnostic facilities have opened up avenue for the girl haters leading to serious disturbances in sex ratio as a result of female foeticide. Desire for male child manifests so blatantly that parents have no qualms about repeated, closely spaced pregnancies, premature deaths and even terminating child before it is born. Birth of female child is perceived as a curse with economic and social liability. Therefore the present study was conducted among married women dwelling in slums and semi-rural area to find out the level of their awareness regarding sex determination and attitude towards gender. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: INDIA | RESEARCH REPORT | QUESTIONNAIRES | COUPLES | CURRENTLY MARRIED | WOMEN | SEX PRESELECTION | SEX DETERMINATION | REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES | KNOWLEDGE | AWARENESS | FAMILY SIZE, DESIRED | SEX RATIO | INFANTICIDE | Developing Countries | Asia, Southern | Asia | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Marital Status | Nuptiality | Demographic Factors | Population | Reproduction | Genetic Techniques | Laboratory Examinations and Diagnoses | Examinations and Diagnoses | Medical Procedures | Medicine | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Health | Family Size | Sex Distribution | Sex Factors | Population Characteristics | Crime | Social Problems Document Number: 315403 |
| 17. Peer Reviewed Title: Misuse of prenatal diagnostic technology for sex-selected abortions and its consequences in India. Author: Sharma BR; Gupta N; Relhan N Source: Public Health. 2007 Nov;121(11):854-860. Abstract: During 1800, the British Government found that there were no daughters in a village in the Eastern Uttar Pradesh region of India. According to the 2001 Census, there were less than 93 women for every 100 men in the Indian population. The prevailing concept that the birth of a female child can signal the beginning of financial ruin and extreme hardship for a poor Indian family is understandable. What is surprising is that even high-income families do not want a female child. The Government of India in its 10th Plan recognized the rights of the female child to equal opportunity, to be free from hunger, illiteracy, ignorance and exploitation. In the National Policy for the Empowerment of Women 2001, a policy framework was laid down for the elimination of discrimination against, and violation of, the rights of the female child. However, the situation continues to worsen, and studies have revealed that sex-selected abortions are practised among all communities despite enactment of laws prohibiting prenatal sex determination. In this paper, we examine the functioning and consequences of the misuse of this technology. (author's) Language: English Keywords: INDIA | RESEARCH REPORT | CENSUS | CHILD, FEMALE | SEX RATIO | SEX PRESELECTION | SEX PREFERENCE | REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES | ABORTION | FETAL DEATH | SEX DISCRIMINATION | POVERTY | Developing Countries | Asia, Southern | Asia | Population Statistics | Research Methodology | Child | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Sex Distribution | Sex Factors | Reproduction | Value Orientation | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Fertility Control, Postconception | Family Planning | Mortality | Population Dynamics | Social Discrimination | Social Problems | Sociocultural Factors | Socioeconomic Factors | Economic Factors Document Number: 322087 Notification |
| 18. Title: Attitudes to and practices regarding sex selection in China. Author: Chan CL; Blyth E; Chan CH Source: Prenatal Diagnosis. 2006 Jul;26(7):610-613. Abstract: This paper explores the problem of China's 'missing' girls--estimated to run into many millions. It considers the impact of the underpinning Confucian value system in China that has produced a culture of son preference and which, together with China's compulsory family planning program and 'one child policy', has effectively established a 'one son policy'. Discussion of the various means by which the birth or survival of daughters have traditionally been prevented provides the context for identifying the contribution of new sex selection procedures to the maintenance of son preference in contemporary Chinese society. The paper concludes that China's son preference is not simply a personal problem for the millions of 'missing girls' who were destined to live a shorter life and for the surviving girls who continue to face considerable discrimination simply because they are of the 'wrong' sex; it heralds a social and demographic disaster of major proportions for which neither the government nor the people of China appear to have the will or the means to forestall. (author's) Language: English Keywords: CHINA | RESEARCH REPORT | SEX PRESELECTION | ATTITUDES | SONS | SEX RATIO | Asia, Eastern | Asia | Developing Countries | Reproductive Technologies | Reproduction | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Sex Distribution | Sex Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population Document Number: 306516 |
| 19. Peer Reviewed Title: Skewed sex ratio of births in India may be the result of sex-selective abortion. Author: Doskoch P Source: International Family Planning Perspectives. 2006 Jun;32(2):[2] p.. Abstract: Although determining the sex of a fetus--and terminating the pregnancy based on the test results--is illegal in India, about half a million female fetuses in the country are aborted each year because of a cultural preference for sons, according to estimates from a national survey. As a result, in 1997, only 899 girls were born in India for every 1,000 boys, and the sex ratio was even more skewed among families who had had only girls. Moreover, the proportion of births that were female was particularly low among educated women, who may be best able to afford ultrasound to identify the sex of their fetus. The findings come from an analysis of data from the Special Fertility and Mortality Survey, a 1998 survey in which the Indian government asked a nationally representative sample of ever-married women about their fertility history. Respondents also provided demographic information. The survey did not ask about respondents' use of prenatal sex determination or whether they preferred children of a particular sex. The current analysis focused on 133,738 births that occurred in 1997, including 71,666 boys and 62,072 girls. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: INDIA | SUMMARY REPORT | FERTILITY SURVEYS | DAUGHTERS | SEX PRESELECTION | CRIME | SEX RATIO | ABORTION | EDUCATIONAL STATUS | AGE FACTORS | INFANTICIDE | Asia, Southern | Asia | Developing Countries | Fertility Measurements | Fertility | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Population | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Reproductive Technologies | Reproduction | Social Problems | Sex Distribution | Sex Factors | Population Characteristics | Fertility Control, Postconception | Family Planning | Socioeconomic Status | Socioeconomic Factors | Economic Factors Document Number: 309805 Notification |
| 20. Peer Reviewed Title: A boy or a girl? A Hungarian survey regarding gender selection. Author: Fejes I; Szollosi J; Zavaczki Z; Koloszar S; Pal A Source: Acta Obstetrica et Gynecologica Scandinavica. 2006 Jul;85(8):993-996. Abstract: Infertile Hungarian couples were surveyed with regard to their opinion of preconception gender selection by the separation of X- and Y-bearing sperm populations. Self-completion of a questionnaire. Group 1: subjects presenting for infertility examination; Group 2: presenting for homologous intrauterine insemination. As concerns the gender of the firstborn, 13.8% of those in Group 1 preferred a boy and 10.3% a girl, while 75.9% had no preference. The male preference was higher in Group 2: 33.3% preferred a boy and 7.4% a girl while 59.3% had no preference (x/2, p < 0.05). In the event of a wish for more offspring, 91% in Group 1 and 94% in Group 2 did not have a wish for only one particular gender. In Group 2, 30.8% were willing to pay the extra costs for a gender selection procedure as compared with only 10.8% of the couples in Group 1 (x/2, p < 0.05). If the National Health Fund fully covered the costs, 53.4% in Group 1 and 38.5% in Group 2 would request the procedure for nonmedical reasons, while 94.6% and 97.4% of them, respectively would so for medical reasons. Our findings revealed a trend to preference for firstborn males, although couples wishing more than one offspring prefer equal numbers of male and female children. The utilization of preconception gender selection, therefore, would not seem to appreciably affect the natural male/female ratio. Genetic indications exert significant effects on the decision regarding sex selection procedures. (author's) Language: English Keywords: HUNGARY | RESEARCH REPORT | SURVEYS | COUPLES | INFERTILITY | ATTITUDES | SEX PREFERENCE | SEX PRESELECTION | ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION | SEX RATIO | Europe, Central | Europe | Developing Countries | Sampling Studies | Studies | Research Methodology | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Reproduction | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Value Orientation | Reproductive Technologies | Sex Distribution | Sex Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population Document Number: 303617 |
| 21. Title: Millions of missing girls: from fetal sexing to high technology sex selection in India. Author: George SM Source: Prenatal Diagnosis. 2006 Jul;26(7):604-609. Abstract: The morality and acceptability of using prenatal diagnosis for sex selection is being extensively debated around the world as advances in assisted reproductive technologies (ART) and embryology have enabled selective implantation of embryos of the desired sex. Sophisticated methods of separation of semen, originally developed for cattle breeding, are being used for human sex selection. Recently, non-invasive methods of fetal sex determination in the first trimester (from 6 weeks) of pregnancy have also emerged. Market forces that promote sex selection along with libertarian ideologues have assisted in blurring the ethical limits. The widespread misuse of sex selection for eliminating girls before birth in India and among the Indian diaspora needs to be brought into the global 'intellectual discourse'. It is imperative that Western ethicists recognize the genocidal nature of sex selection taking place in certain Asian countries. Even if they believe that these trends will not affect mainstream Western societies, the promotion or tolerance of sex selection amounts to a 'crime of silence' against this ongoing genocide in China and India. I have been concerned with issues of the girl child in India for over two decades and sex selection among Asian Indians in North America. This article examines the missing millions of girls, but will not consider the 1980s campaign against fetal sex determination, Indian feminists' recognition of sex selection as violence against women (unlike several Western feminists, Moazam, 2004), or the Government's response to regulate prenatal diagnostic techniques in 1994. (author's) Language: English Keywords: INDIA | RESEARCH REPORT | DAUGHTERS | SEX PRESELECTION | SEX RATIO | SEX DETERMINATION | GENETIC TECHNIQUES | SEX DISCRIMINATION | Asia, Southern | Asia | Developing Countries | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Reproductive Technologies | Reproduction | Sex Distribution | Sex Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Laboratory Examinations and Diagnoses | Examinations and Diagnoses | Medical Procedures | Medicine | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Health | Social Discrimination | Social Problems Document Number: 306517 |
| 22. Title: Assessing potential for induced abortion among Indian women. Author: Mishra US; Dilip TR Source: [Unpublished] 2006. Presented at the Population Association of America, 2006 Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, California, March 30 - April 1, 2006. [20] p. Abstract: There is some evidence that women use induced abortion as a means of contraception as well as for sex selection beyond its justified use in case of undesirable pregnancies or pregnancies with foetal defects. An attempt is made here towards providing an indirect assessment of the magnitude of induced abortion among Indian women given the fact that the direct reporting on this phenomenon in large-scale surveys suffers from gross under-reporting. The assumptions used here are that induced abortion could be used as a means of contraception (i.e. in terms of termination of untimely/unwanted pregnancies) or as a means of attaining the preferred sex composition of children. This aspect is important while looking for evidence to support the hypothesis that the imbalance in child sex ratio is a consequence of sex-selective abortions and reflects the dissonance in the levels of contraception and the declines in fertility. Specifically, this paper uses the information on the age-specific unmet need pattern as well as the age schedule of fertility. To compute the deviant reproductive behaviour, it uses the distribution of sex composition of children within each children ever born (CEB) category of women of specific ages. All this information is available only for currently married women in National Family Health Survey, 1998-99; NFHS-2 and hence they form the sample base of our analysis. We are able to provide separate estimates for use of abortion for sex selection to get both desired sex composition and its use as a contraceptive method to avoid unwanted births. It was found that, in India, induced abortion due to sex selection is 74 per 1000 live births and that due to contraception is 115 per thousand live births. In total there are 189 induced abortions per 1000 live births. This estimation process also gives an idea of the proportion of abortions that are taking place due to sex selection and the proportion of abortions that occur on purely contraceptive grounds. It can be said that of the total amount of induced abortions that occur, 39 per cent of abortions are for sex selection while remaining 61 percent are for avoiding unwanted pregnancies. It is possible that the estimates of abortion being used as a contraceptive could be slightly on the higher side if contraceptive use has been under-reported in surveys. At the over all level the estimates are consistent, suggesting high level of use of abortion as a contraceptive method in the country, and this has serious implications for health policy in general and women's well being in particular. This has to be addressed at policy level and there is a need to reduce/restrict use of induced abortion as a method of contraception. (author's) Language: English Keywords: INDIA | RESEARCH REPORT | WOMEN | SEX PRESELECTION | ABORTION | REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOR | ABORTION RATE | CONTRACEPTIVE USAGE | ABORTION LAW | Developing Countries | Asia, Southern | Asia | Demographic Factors | Population | Reproductive Technologies | Reproduction | Fertility Control, Postconception | Family Planning | Fertility | Population Dynamics | Contraception Document Number: 316843 Notification |
| 23. Title: Kinship system, fertility and son preference among the Muslims: A review. Author: Nasir R; Kalla AK Source: Anthropologist. 2006 Oct;8(4):275-281. Abstract: This review illustrates that differences in kinship system between north (by an large patrilineal) and south (by an large matrilineal) of India is an important factor to bring about regional disparities in sex preference of children by the Hindu parents but not by the Muslim parents in whom Kinship system is traditionally unique as it shares similarity with Dravidian system in marriage pattern and inheritance from paternal side and similarity in kinship terminology with Indo Aryan system of the north while among the Hindus it is traditionally based on patrilineal inheritance, not withstanding the Hindu succession Act of 1956'. Though dowry and sex selective abortion are the determinants of status of women among the Hindus, they are generally not practiced among the Muslims. However, the lower education status, economic status and social status (due to patriarchy and religious ideologies) respectively and together produce circumstances leading to son being seen as the best socio-economic insurance by the Muslim women. This review of studies conducted on the above topic shows that high fertility among the Muslim women is also a consequence of son preference arising out of socio-economic compulsion in the traditional absence (due to strict religious prohibition) of sex selective abortions. (author's) Language: English Keywords: INDIA | LITERATURE REVIEW | ISLAM | HINDUISM | SEX RATIO | SEX PREFERENCE | DOWRY | SEX PRESELECTION | KINSHIP NETWORKS | DIFFERENTIAL FERTILITY | Developing Countries | Asia, Southern | Asia | Religion | Sociocultural Factors | Sex Distribution | Sex Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Value Orientation | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Nuptiality | Reproductive Technologies | Reproduction | Family and Household | Fertility | Population Dynamics Document Number: 321443 |
| 24. Title: Did induced abortion associate with family planning policy in China? Author: Qiao X; Suchindran C Source: [Unpublished] 2006. Presented at the Population Association of America, 2006 Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, California, March 30 - April 1, 2006. 31 p. Abstract: The objective of this paper is to reflect the levels and changes of induced abortions over the whole period of family planning programs in China and to mirror the differences of the levels and causes of induced abortions between rural and urban areas and Han and minority nationalities on whom different family planning policies were imposed. Using the data from China's Ministry of Health and the data from the 1997 National Population and Reproductive Survey, we found that the peaks of induced abortions occurred around the years 1983 and 1991. The rate of induced abortions in rural areas was much lower than that in urban areas, even though the implementation of family planning was heavily emphasized in rural areas, and the rate of induced abortion for Han nationality women was much higher than that for minority nationality. In general, the main cause of induced abortions was "unexpected pregnancy," but the main cause of induced abortions in rural areas and for minority nationality was "inconsistencywith the requirements of family planning policy." The number and sex of children a woman ever had influenced the results of sex ratio at birth and the rate of induced abortions simultaneously, which proved that the voluntarily sex-selected induced abortion widely existed in China. The incidences of induced abortions per ever-conceived woman and the proportion of induced abortions per conception caused by inconsistency with the requirements of family planning were quite low. Such incidences and proportions were higher in urban areas and Han nationality than in rural areas and minority nationality. (author's) Language: English Keywords: CHINA | SUMMARY REPORT | FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAMS | POPULATION POLICY | ABORTION RATE | CHANGES | PREGNANCY, UNPLANNED | SEX RATIO | SEX PRESELECTION | ABORTION | IMPLEMENTATION | Developing Countries | Asia, Eastern | Asia | Family Planning | Social Policy | Policy | Political Factors | Sociocultural Factors | Fertility Control, Postconception | Social Change | Reproductive Behavior | Fertility | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Population | Sex Distribution | Sex Factors | Population Characteristics | Reproductive Technologies | Reproduction | Programs | Organization and Administration Document Number: 316844 Notification |
| 25. Peer Reviewed Title: Actions to optimise safe abortions -- a call to action. Statement by the participants of the workshop on 11th February 2005 at Mumbai, India. Source: Journal of Family Welfare. 2005 Dec;51(2):78-80. Abstract: Every year 68,000 women the world over die as a result of complications of unsafe abortion. 20,000 of these deaths occur in India alone. Countless more women suffer serious injuries. The poor, the rural, the illiterate, the young and the unmarried remain the most vulnerable. The unjust tragedy continues despite the fact that abortion has been legal in India since 1972. An estimated 6.7 million induced abortions are performed in India each year. This large number testifies to a widespread deficiency in awareness and knowledge, and also an unmet need in the availability and access to contraceptive services. Besides this, the inherent failure of every available contraceptive method is bound to lead to unwanted pregnancies. While the prevention of all unwanted pregnancies would be ideal, their inevitable occurrence will always require the backup of safe induced abortion services. Women have a right to life and health. India's National Population Policy aims to reduce maternal mortality ratio to <100 by the year 2010. India is also committed to ICPD, ICPD +5, CEDAW and to achieving the Millennium Development Goal of reducing maternal mortality. None of these can be achieved, unless we address the issue of unsafe abortion. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: INDIA | CRITIQUE | ABORTION | DELIVERY OF HEALTH CARE | ABORTION LAW | PRIMARY HEALTH CARE | APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY | ADVOCACY | SEX PRESELECTION | Asia, Southern | Asia | Developing Countries | Fertility Control, Postconception | Family Planning | Health | Health Services | Technology | Economic Factors | Communication | Reproductive Technologies | Reproduction Document Number: 305278 Notification |
| 26. Peer Reviewed Title: Explaining Asia's "missing women": a new look at the data. Author: Das Gupta M Source: Population and Development Review. 2005 Sep;31(3):529-535. Abstract: THE FACT THAT millions of women are “missing” in East Asia and South Asia has received attention from scholars, policymakers, and governments because of its profound human and social implications. Both India and China have banned the use of sex-selective technologies. Officials in both countries have spoken out against female infanticide, and both countries seek in various ways to encourage parents to view daughters as no less valuable than sons. Even a century ago, British colonial authorities in India were trying to redress the problem by imposing collective punishment on villages with highly imbalanced sex ratios among children, while in China clans were offering incentives to parents to raise daughters. The assumption underlying such policies is that a strong cultural preference for sons is driving the imbalance in sex ratios. The literature relates son preference to a variety of social and economic factors in these regions, which interact to make females less valuable to their families: people are pressured to bear sons while limiting the number of daughters in order to conserve scarce household resources. Households have variously resorted to female infanticide and postnatal withholding of health care; and since the mid-1980s, when technology permitting fairly low-cost determination of the sex of fetuses became available, there has been a shift toward prenatal sex selection by means of induced abortion. And because cases of female infanticide are often not reported as live births, they can be hard to distinguish from the consequences of prenatal sex selection in the reported sex ratio of births. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: ASIA, EASTERN | ASIA, SOUTHERN | CHINA | INDIA | THEORETICAL STUDIES | DATA ANALYSIS | CHILD, FEMALE | SEX PRESELECTION | INFANTICIDE | SEX RATIO | CULTURE | SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS | GENDER ISSUES | BIOLOGY | Developing Countries | Asia | Research Methodology | Child | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Reproductive Technologies | Reproduction | Crime | Social Problems | Sex Distribution | Sex Factors | Economic Factors Document Number: 292317 |
| 27. Title: Sex selection and fertility in a dynamic model of conception and abortion. Author: Kim J Source: Journal of Population Economics. 2005;18:41-67. Abstract: This paper investigates the effect of prenatal sex selection on fertility through a stochastic dynamic model with uncertainty in conception as well as in gender, where a woman makes decisions on conception and abortion with or without gender detection tests (i.e. sex-selective or sex-unselective abortion). The paper shows that, when the cost of gender detection test falls, the sex ratio at birth rises due to more selective abortions, but fertility can rise or fall with rising sex ratio. Fertility may rise (fall) if there are more (less) women giving up unselective abortions for selective abortions than women giving up childbirths without test for selective abortions. Similarly the paper shows that the sex ratio can rise or fall, when fertility decreases as the cost of children increases. I test these propositions as well as their implications against micro survey data on the pregnancy history of Korean women. (author's) Language: English Keywords: REPUBLIC OF KOREA | RESEARCH REPORT | THEORETICAL MODELS | WOMEN | FERTILIZATION | FERTILITY CHANGES | ABORTION | SEX PRESELECTION | SEX RATIO | SEX PREFERENCE | ULTRASONICS | DECISION MAKING | Asia, Eastern | Asia | Developed Countries | Research Methodology | Demographic Factors | Population | Reproduction | Fertility | Population Dynamics | Fertility Control, Postconception | Family Planning | Reproductive Technologies | Sex Distribution | Sex Factors | Population Characteristics | Value Orientation | Psychological Factors | Behavior Document Number: 288077 Notification |
| 28. Title: Sex selective abortion, hidden girls, or infanticide? Explaining the female deficit in a Chinese county. Author: Lavely W Source: [Unpublished] 2005. Presented at the CEPED-CICRED-INED Seminar on Female Deficit in Asia: Trends and Perspectives, Singapore, December 5-7, 2005. 14 p. Abstract: As sex ratios have risen in China over the past 25 years, uncertainty has persisted about the proximate mechanisms producing the rise. Sex-selective abortion, girls alive but hidden in the population, and sex-selective infanticide have all been advanced as explanations, but the precise mix of these mechanisms is not known. Convincing explanations are elusive because the behaviors involved are unobserved, performed out of view in family homes or quietly in clinics, and omitted from reports by local officials. The instrumentalities that produce the female deficit are important because they delimit policy choices. For example, efforts to curb the rise in sex ratios by outlawing sex-selective abortion will be ineffective and counter-productive if infanticide is a readily available substitute. Given the sensitive nature of the problem, no single source of data can produce a complete or credible picture. This study triangulates the problem using a combination of data sources from one peripheral rural county in eastern Yunnan Province, a county with unusually high child sex ratios. The data sources include qualitative research materials collected in 1993 and 1994 in the form of interviews with local officials, health workers, and citizens; local documentary evidence; data from a county-wide probability sample of women (N=1,062) who bore children in the years 1991-93; and county census tabulations from 1990 and 2000. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: CHINA | SUMMARY REPORT | DAUGHTERS | INFANTICIDE | SEX PREFERENCE | SEX RATIO | ABORTION | SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS | REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES | SEX PRESELECTION | Developing Countries | Asia, Eastern | Asia | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Crime | Social Problems | Value Orientation | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Sex Distribution | Sex Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Fertility Control, Postconception | Family Planning | Economic Factors | Reproduction Document Number: 314650 Notification |
| 29. Title: Female child survival in China: past, present, and prospects for the future. Author: Li S; Jiang Q; Wei Y; Feldman MW Source: [Unpublished] 2005. Presented at the CEPED-CICRED-INED Seminar on Female Deficit in Asia: Trends and Perspectives, Singapore, December 5-7, 2005. 27 p. Abstract: Using data from various sources, this paper reviews studies on child survival of female children in China and intervention activities by the Chinese government to improve this survival. Discrimination against girls has existed for a long time in China, and the abnormally high sex ratio at birth and excess female child mortality in the recent years reflect women's low social status and a relatively deteriorating survival environment for girls. The discrimination against girls is both prenatal and postnatal and is manifest in sex-selective abortion of female fetuses leading to a high sex ratio at birth, and in neglect of and insufficient investment in girls resulting in excess female child mortality. The paper presents analyses of the levels, trends, and regional variations in the sex ratio at birth and excess girl child mortality, and discusses direct and indirect causes of the deteriorating survival environment for girls as well as its demographic and social implications. Prospects for the future of improvement in girl child survival in light of actions of the Chinese government are also discussed. (author's) Language: English Keywords: CHINA | RESEARCH REPORT | DATA ANALYSIS | CHILD, FEMALE | CHILD SURVIVAL | GENDER ISSUES | SEX PREFERENCE | SEX RATIO | SEX DISCRIMINATION | SEX DETERMINATION | SEX PRESELECTION | ABORTION | WOMEN'S STATUS | GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS | DEMOGRAPHIC IMPACT | Developing Countries | Asia, Eastern | Asia | Research Methodology | Child | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Survivorship | Length of Life | Mortality | Population Dynamics | Sociocultural Factors | Value Orientation | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Sex Distribution | Sex Factors | Social Discrimination | Social Problems | Genetic Techniques | Laboratory Examinations and Diagnoses | Examinations and Diagnoses | Medical Procedures | Medicine | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Health | Reproductive Technologies | Reproduction | Fertility Control, Postconception | Family Planning | Socioeconomic Factors | Economic Factors | Programs | Organization and Administration Document Number: 312740 Notification |
| 30. Title: Traditions in transformation: gender bias among the Nairs of Kerala. Author: Sudha S; Khanna S; Rajan SI; Srivastava R Source: [Unpublished] 2005. Presented at the CEPED-CICRED-INED Seminar on Female Deficit in Asia: Trends and Perspectives, Singapore, December 5-7, 2005. 21 p. Abstract: Our study examines whether gender bias (parents' systematic preference for male children) arises in a society previously considered gender-egalitarian in this regard. We analyze how the rise of male-centric kinship, family, and marriage systems, along with social and economic developments that prioritize the productive roles of males over those of females, influence rising gender bias. We examine these questions by a qualitative study among the Nair caste of Kerala state in Southern India. Our research documents the association between transformation of key societal traditions in Kerala society, (the move away from matriliny, the continued strength of patriarchy, and the lack of female occupational chances; despite the spread of education) with the rise of gender bias in this society that was hitherto egalitarian in this regard. We document emergence of substantial verbal gender bias, and limited use of prenatal sex selection technologies to actualize this bias, in the Nair community. (author's) Language: English Keywords: INDIA | RESEARCH REPORT | QUALITATIVE RESEARCH | CHILD, FEMALE | GENDER ISSUES | SEX PREFERENCE | SEX DISCRIMINATION | SEX RATIO | SEX PRESELECTION | SOCIAL CHANGE | DEMOGRAPHIC IMPACT | MARRIAGE PATTERNS | Asia, Southern | Asia | Developing Countries | Research Methodology | Child | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Sociocultural Factors | Value Orientation | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Social Discrimination | Social Problems | Sex Distribution | Sex Factors | Reproductive Technologies | Reproduction | Population Dynamics | |